The almanac uses observations written by naturalists, river lovers of all ages, and scientists to assemble a journal of the river's unique moments.

The almanac is printed by Purple Mountain Press, Ltd., (800-325-2665) and is lavishly illustrated by Marlena Marallo. It is available for $10, plus New York State sales tax, and $3.50 for shipping. E-mail address is: Purple@mail.catskill.net

These excerpts are taken, with permission from the publisher, from the Hudson River Almanac, Volume III. Each month, we'll be adding another excerpt from the book that corresponds to the current month.

May 1996
May 1 - Croton Point - Wave after wave of blue jays. Their fall migrations always seem leisurely and it is common to see flocks turn back halfway across the river, or to see them feed and rest in one area for an extended period. Their is an immediacy in this spring movement. These birds are journeying. First great egret of the year, and yellow warblers and towhees are singing everywhere. -- Christopher Letts

May 4 - Iona Island - Barbara Michelin and the Waterman Bird Club sighted two orchard orioles near the railroad tracks. These migrating orioles are very uncommon to rare in the Hudson Valley.

May 5 - Furnace Brook - The lilacs were in bloom. We had black morels over planked American shad for dinner. -- Christopher Letts, Nancy Letts

May 10 - Croton Point - On what was really a nice afternoon, I encountered a great horned owl being pestered by crows and grackles. He was so distracted that I was under him before he saw me. He tolerated me for a while and then headed into deeper woods followed by thirty or more of his hecklers who seemed to come from all over. I followed him in, and again he found me more tolerable than the raucous agitators around him. Along the crest heading out to Sarah's Point were innumerable yellow warblers in song. In the western grove along the bulkhead at least five male orioles were trying to establish territories. Their whinnies were all around. -- Lawrence Bickford

May 12 - Croton Point - On a morning walk we flushed several turkey vultures from the beach on the south side of the Point. On the high tide line I found the carcass of a raccoon, surrounded by turkey vulture tracks in the sand. The birds had done a pretty good job; there wasn't much left but the grin. Close by was the carcass of a large carp, no vulture footprints around it. My wife looked up at the vultures and said, "When you finish all your raccoon, you can have dessert. -- Christopher Letts, Nancy Letts

Croton Point - We hauled a seine along the rocky south beach with a very appropriately-named group called Friends of Fishes. Among our catch were yearling American shad. We were at a loss to explain their presence in the Hudson River. The adults come in to spawn; yoy (young-of-the-year) use the Hudson's nursery; yearlings should be out at sea -- or so we think. Our most impressive catch was a twenty-five pound carpÑa rotund female full of eggs. In honor of Mothers' Day, we carefully released her back into Croton Bay. There were dozens of mummichogs, yearling striped bass, a few hogchokers, white perch, white catfish, and to remind us of the low salinity (3 ppt), two brown bullheads. -- C. Lavett Smith, Tom Lake

May 15 - Croton Point - On the edge of the marsh the wild mustard was two feet high and in full bloom, a fitting backdrop for the bobolinks clinging to the stems. The crisp colors of the male bobolinks against the yellow of the blooms caused me to pause for a good long look. That was too much for the nerves of an American bittern 50' away; it flushed from the reeds and labored away over the marsh, throwing a couple of croaks back at me. I'd have missed it but for the bobolinks, and I can just imagine the bittern in freeze position, beak and neck pointed straight up, confident in its invisibility -- until I stopped just too close for comfort. -- Christopher Letts

May 22 - Croton Point - One hundred Canada geese were mowing the lawn close by the Croton Point Park office and in their midst was a barnacle goose. It was more skittish than the Canadas, but I walked within 100 feet and enjoyed a good look at this pretty bird.

I walked down the path to the west shore, midway out to the Point, and met two fishermen struggling up the path, burdened with ten striped bass. The fish were all in the fifteen pound range. I continued to the beach and found the severed head of a two foot Atlantic sturgeon and more fishermen with strings of striped bass. I guess the news that Atlantic sturgeon are off limits and that one striped bass per day is the bag limit hasn't reached this frontier. -- Christopher Letts